“The Harbor, Sea Smoke,” by Peter Ralston.

Working Waterfront

Rockland gallery featuring Ralston images

Blue Raven Gallery at 374 Main Street in Rockland announces its first collaborative exhibition on Aug. 18 with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. featuring the pre-eminent Maine photographer Peter Ralston and his release of a new, limited-edition suite of large prints, The Raven Edition. The exhibition will include over 50… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A history worth celebrating

When I joined Island Institute as president a little over three months ago, we were preparing for our 40th birthday as an organization serving Maine’s islands and coastal communities. We were founded in 1983—the year the English rock band, The Police, topped Billboard’s year-end “hot singles” with “Every Breath You… SEE MORE

Passamaquoddy Tribe members gather at a ceremony. FILE PHOTO: LESLIE BOWMAN

Working Waterfront

Let’s return to a native view of resources

The Wabanaki nations have an excellent history of sustainable resource management. Before colonizers dominated the resources of this area in the 1600s, the Wabanakis had lived here for 12,000 years, self-regulating their consumption and relationships to the land and one another. In a fraction of that time, the society that… SEE MORE

A right whale that has recovered from wounds linked to fishing gear.

Working Waterfront

What is driving right whales to extinction?

When I was a child, I listened to Smoky Bear tell us, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” That was a clear and direct message but it was wrong. This summer, vast regions of North America were on fire and most of those fires started from lightning strikes, but the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ban ocean-based finfish farms

Eric Jors, the CEO of American Aquafarms, the company that proposed a large sea-based fish farm in Frenchman Bay, recently said he saw continued opportunity to provide sustainable aquaculture in Maine that met global food demands while mitigating climate change and benefiting the local community and economy. Let’s explore those… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The weather and dinner next year

A friend observed this week, midst soggy, foggy, drizzle, and downpours, that, “I’m glad I don’t have to depend on the garden for food this year.” People have planted beans twice, perhaps at last seeing some showing above ground. Radishes and greens, which sprouted to flea beetles’ delight, were left… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Smell-o-vision in an island meadow

During my first spring on North Haven, I often had occasion to walk to work. I lived on the island’s North Shore, much closer to the school than I live now, and walking was a more attractive method of transportation than driving the dilapidated Saab I had managed to buy… SEE MORE

Sunset over a wild blueberry field in Washington County.

Working Waterfront

Downeast farms happily singing the blues

When Lisa Hanscom leads tours of Welch Farm, she showcases a working wild blueberry farm, and a slice of her family history, too. Hanscom’s grandparents purchased the Roque Bluffs farm in 1912, moved in after their wedding on Christmas Day, and over time, her grandfather converted the fields to wild… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Yes, the rain hurt Maine tourism

During the rainy months of June and July, Aaron Lincoln, captain and owner of the schooner Olad and the cutter Owl out of Camden Harbor, would run into people he knew at the local grocery store. “People were giving me condolences like my dad had died,” he said. “I realized… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Washington County atlas revived

If you enjoy exploring old maps, photos, and other pathways of Downeast history, you’ll find inspiration in artist-editor Jane Crosen’s new Coastwise edition of Colby’s 1881 Atlas of Washington County. For over 40 years the Penobscot mapmaker has been creating hand-drawn maps of Maine coastal and lake regions, published as… SEE MORE